Boeing’s record online orders for parts products in 2021 were fueled by investment in digital tools. (Boeing)
Boeing achieved an annual record for e-commerce sales of aircraft parts in 2021, the company reported on Monday.
According to a Feb. 14 press release, Boeing Distribution Inc. sold close to 70,000 aircraft parts and products to commercial and government operators, amounting to more than $2 billion in online orders last year. The total online revenue generated by Boeing Distribution Inc. included more than $1.5 billion in commercial orders.
Ted Colbert, president and chief executive officer, Boeing Global Services, released a statement on the e-commerce record for Boeing from the Singapore Airshow, calling the company’s $2 billion in e-commerce last year a “great capstone as the market heads to a more stable recovery.”
“Customer success stories are a great metric! Their stories are backed by an encouraging proof point that the airline industry is steadily recovering. Boeing customers purchased 70,000 parts online in 2021, worth over $2 billion exceeding pre-pandemic levels. With every upgrade to our e-commerce site, customers continued to choose that path, shifting to a seamless parts fulfillment,” Colbert said in a Feb. 14 statement published to his Linkedin page.
Boeing first launched operations for its Boeing Global Services division as a third major business unit in June 2017, with a focus on four primary areas including supply chain management; engineering; aircraft modification; digital analytics and training; and professional services. Headquartered in Texas, the global services division was formed by the services capabilities of the government, space, and commercial sectors into a single, customer-focused business.
During the company’s fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call last month, Boeing CFO Brian West said revenue for their Global Services division increased by $4.3 billion in the fourth quarter, up 15% from the same period in 2020.
“We received $6 billion in orders during the quarter, taking the BGS backlog to $20 billion. We also delivered the 50th 767-300 converted freighter and announced plans to add 10 new converted freighter lines. Our services business has shown great resilience in part due to the balance of both defense and commercial offerings,” West said.
West told investors that Boeing expects “solid growth” in their services business in 2022, as the “commercial market continues to improve.”
Boeing Distribution Inc.’s revamped website now includes more than 500,000 aircraft parts and components, and recorded five million visits from customers in 50 different countries last year. William Ampofo, vice president of Parts, Distribution Services, and Supply Chain, Boeing Global Services, attributes their e-commerce growth to “launching new digital tools, we are creating a more streamlined process for our customers by realigning strategy, program, and product line management with supply chain and customer support.”
In September, Boeing released its latest outlook for aviation services, forecasting a $3.2 trillion market with commercial, business, and general aviation services representing $1.7 trillion and government services representing $1.5 trillion through 2030.